Skip to main content

Regional Guides

Manchester and Trafford Grammar Schools and the 11 Plus

The seven Greater Manchester state grammar schools are in Trafford. See what 2027-entry families need to do after results, plus the announced test changes for 2028 and 2029 entry.

If you are looking for state grammar schools in Greater Manchester, seven are in Trafford; the City of Manchester local authority has none. Manchester Grammar School is an independent fee-paying school with its own admissions process, separate from the state 11+ routes described here.

That correction moves your shortlist to Trafford and drops you into an admissions system more complicated than the usual listicle admits. The seven Trafford grammars do not share one entrance test. Five of them do, through the Trafford Consortium. Loreto Grammar School and St Ambrose College run separate exams. For 2027 entry, both separate exams took place on 18 September 2026, four days after the Consortium test. A family targeting both had to check a possible same-day clash; one school's registration or result did not cover the other.

This guide walks it in order: which schools exist and where, which test each one uses, what is actually on each paper, and the separate test-registration and school-application steps. The dates and GL paper format below describe September 2027 entry. The Consortium has announced a different provider and subject scope for 2028 entry, followed by an earlier test for 2029 entry.

Applying for September 2027 entry now? Check the result from each school whose test your child sat, then submit the school application through your home council. Manchester City Council and Stretford's Trafford admissions page give 31 October 2026 as the deadline for their residents; families elsewhere should check their own council's deadline. List your preferred schools in your genuine order and include a realistic non-selective option. A qualifying test result does not make a school application for you or guarantee a place. Stretford says Consortium results will be communicated before 31 October, while Loreto says its separate exam results will be emailed on or before 21 October.

Start here: the schools are in Trafford, not Manchester

The City of Manchester local authority has no state grammar schools; Trafford has seven. The school list below distinguishes the five Trafford Consortium schools from Loreto and St Ambrose, which administer separate tests.

Practically, that means three things. Your child will sit the Consortium test or a separate school test, depending on the Trafford school you choose. You apply for a secondary place through your home local authority, so a Manchester family applies via Manchester City Council but names Trafford schools on the form. Each school applies its own oversubscription criteria, which may include catchment, postcode or other priorities. Read the policy for each school on your shortlist.

The seven state grammar schools at a glance

Here is the full list, with the detail that actually decides your shortlist rather than an A-level ranking. Every one of these is in the Trafford local authority.

Trafford Council confirms the split directly: the Consortium is made up of AGSB, AGGS, Sale, Stretford and Urmston, while Loreto and St Ambrose sit outside it and use a separate test (trafford.gov.uk). Compare the five schools on our Trafford Consortium page or browse the full Trafford school directory.

Manchester Grammar School and the schools people mistake for grammars

Manchester Grammar School is an independent school, not one of Trafford’s state grammar schools. The government register classifies it as an “other independent school”, for ages 7 to 18 (Get Information about Schools). It has its own admissions process and does not use the Trafford Consortium test. For the wider national picture of which areas are selective and what each uses, our guide to grammar schools near me maps the whole country.

Spring of Year 5: decide which test, or tests, your child will sit

For the 2027-entry cycle, Consortium registration opened in April of Year 5. For another entry year, check the schools’ published calendar and decide which separate tests to register for.

The Consortium arrangement lets a candidate sit the shared test once for the five member schools they register with. When you register, choose the schools you want to receive a standardised result. The Consortium's 2027 booklet says scores cannot be shared retrospectively after standardisation. It also says the standardised result may differ between member schools because each compares a different candidate cohort.

The catch is the other two. Adding Loreto or St Ambrose to your list adds a genuinely separate exam and registration. Both schools scheduled their 2027-entry tests for Friday 18 September 2026 (Loreto, St Ambrose). If you plan to apply to both in a future cycle, check the schools' published dates early and ask them directly about any clash. Do not assume an alternative sitting will be available.

For 2027 entry, the Consortium's own familiarisation guide says both of its booklets contain verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and maths. Loreto and St Ambrose use separate exams with three papers each; their paper lengths are set out below.

Late April to mid June of Year 5: the deadline families actually miss

For September 2027 entry, Trafford Consortium registration opened at 12 noon on Thursday 23 April 2026 and closed at 12 noon on Friday 19 June 2026, with the entrance examination sat on Monday 14 September 2026 (agsb.co.uk). Registration closes in the June of Year 5, while your child is still two months short of starting Year 6, and roughly four months before the 31 October common application form that most parents assume is the deadline.

Trafford Council is explicit that a child must first pass the entrance test to be considered for a grammar place, and that parents must contact the preferred grammar school directly to register to sit it. The council does not do this for you: there is no automatic enrolment, no letter from your primary school, and no reminder.

Loreto's registration for its September 2026 sitting has closed (Loreto admissions). A child who did not sit that exam can instead register for Loreto's late entrance exam, held on 28 April 2027. Registration opens on 22 February and closes at 1:00pm on 12 March 2027. Because offers go out on 1 March, passing the late test can only put the child on Loreto's waiting list, not into the first offer round. A child who sat and was unsuccessful in September cannot use this late sitting. Loreto's published date-of-birth range for this entry year is 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016.

For the standard Trafford Consortium sitting, put its April Year 5 registration opening in your calendar and register early. Loreto's late exam has a separate February to March Year 6 registration window for children who missed its September sitting. Exact dates shift each year, so check the relevant school or Consortium page for your entry year.

The lookup below summarises the Trafford test routes and registration links. It does not determine whether a child qualifies or how a school ranks an application. Check the current policy for each school, including its score concessions and review rules, before using a score to judge eligibility.

This part of the guide looks up which 11+ test your area uses. It works in your browser.

What is actually on the Trafford Consortium papers

Check the content and timing published for your child's school and entry year.

The Consortium entrance examination consists of two tests, each approximately one hour in length, containing questions that assess verbal ability, non-verbal ability and mathematics. The subject content is defined as follows:

  • Verbal ability: word choice, vocabulary knowledge, word relationships and comprehension.
  • Non-verbal ability: shape relationships, sequences, pattern identification, codes and spatial awareness.
  • Mathematics: content typically taught through Year 5, covering number, measurement, geometry and statistics.

For 2027 entry, the Consortium’s two tests each assess verbal ability, non-verbal ability and maths. Check the target school’s familiarisation material for examples and instructions. Our mock test practice offers additional timed practice, but it is not an official Consortium paper or a measure of likely admission.

What changes for 2028 and 2029 entry?

The Trafford Consortium announcement says Future Stories Community Enterprise (FSCE) replaces GL Assessment for 2028 entry. The 2028-entry test remains in September of Year 6, but its content changes from verbal, non-verbal and mathematical reasoning. The Consortium's FSCE information page says the test draws on the Key Stage 2 curriculum up to the end of Year 5. One paper covers English and maths, and a second covers other subjects. It also says the subjects, question types and format may vary from year to year. Neither page gives an exact test date. Read our FSCE 11+ guide for what this provider does, then wait for Trafford's own familiarisation material before selecting practice papers.

For 2029 entry onwards, the same announcement says the FSCE test moves to the latter part of the summer term of Year 5. Families should plan around that earlier sitting; the September timing and GL format in this article do not apply to those later entry years. The announced change covers the five Consortium schools, not Loreto Grammar School or St Ambrose College, which run separate admissions tests.

Loreto and St Ambrose: the two separate tests

Both schools publish their own specifications, and neither resembles the Consortium format.

Loreto Grammar School sets three timed elements: Mathematics (45 minutes), English set by GL Assessment (45 minutes) and Verbal Reasoning set by GL Assessment (50 minutes). Its September 2027 entry exam fell on Friday 18 September 2026, four days after the Consortium test. There is no non-verbal reasoning element, and English is a discrete paper rather than a strand inside a mixed test.

St Ambrose College sets three multiple-choice assessments: Verbal Reasoning (50 minutes) administered by GL Assessment, plus Maths (35 minutes) and English (35 minutes) written by the school itself. The school states that no sample or past papers are available for its own maths and English papers (St Ambrose 2027 admissions). Use the school’s published specification and familiarisation information to understand those papers; St Ambrose says it does not provide sample or past papers for its own English and maths tests.

The GL-set elements use their own published timings. Practice materials can offer familiarity with question styles, but should not be treated as equivalent to these school tests. Check each school’s current instructions before practising.

October of Year 6: results, and why passing does not get you a place

Results arrive in the autumn term, before the application deadline, which is the whole point of the September test date: you find out whether your child has qualified in time to build a sensible application.

Qualifying, though, is a threshold, not an offer. Stretford Grammar School’s base qualifying standardised score is 334 (Stretford admissions). Candidates scoring 324 to 333 with Pupil Premium evidence receive automatic review. Any candidate in that score band whose result is not overturned may go through Local Review using the required forms. A successful review changes the score to 334R. Reaching 334 does not guarantee a place; after the selective threshold, the school applies its oversubscription criteria. Its September 2027 policy orders eligible applicants as follows, after EHCP-named applicants who meet the required standard:

  1. Looked after and previously looked after children.
  2. Children adopted from state care outside England.
  3. Catchment area residents receiving pupil or service premium.
  4. Applicants with siblings already in Years 7 to 11.
  5. Residents within priority postcodes M32, M33, M41, M17, M15 and M16 (within both Trafford and Manchester), and including M21.
  6. Non-catchment residents receiving pupil or service premium.
  7. All other applicants, ranked by distance to the school.

Distance is measured as a direct straight line from the child's permanent home to the school, using property coordinates from the Trafford Local Land and Property Gazetteer and Royal Mail data, with random allocation breaking ties.

Crucially, although the five Consortium schools share one entrance test, the standardised results can differ by school, and each school applies its own qualification and oversubscription rules. Qualifying at one member school does not establish eligibility or an offer at another. For the wider context on qualifying thresholds, see our explainer on 11 plus pass marks and qualifying scores.

Urmston result near the qualifying score? The current determined 2027 admissions policy sets a 334 qualifying score for most candidates and 324 for eligible Pupil Premium candidates. Its Local Review bands are 321 to 333 for other candidates and 321 to 323 for Pupil Premium candidates; a successful review changes the score to 334R. The review decision comes after the council application deadline, so name the school on your home council's form by its deadline even if the review is pending. After EHCP-named applicants who meet the required standard, Urmston gives priority to looked-after and previously looked-after children; approximately 15 highest-scoring Pupil Premium candidates regardless of distance; approximately 20 highest-scoring candidates regardless of address; qualifying staff children; siblings attending on test day; then remaining places by distance, with M41 and M31 addresses considered before others. These approximate groups fit within the PAN of 160. Read the Urmston school guide for its own result and admissions steps.

By your home council's deadline: the common application form

This is the second stage, and it is entirely separate from the test registration completed earlier in 2026. You submit one common application form to your home local authority, listing your preferred schools in order. Manchester residents apply through Manchester City Council even when naming Trafford schools; Trafford residents apply through Trafford. Both have a 31 October 2026 deadline. Families living elsewhere must check their home council's deadline.

Two habits protect families here. First, include a school you would be willing to attend even if your selective choices do not offer a place. Second, list schools in your genuine order of preference. Your home council coordinates the applications and offers the highest preference it can match; putting a school first does not improve the chance of meeting that school’s own criteria.

Offers arrive on national offer day the following March, and appeals and waiting lists run from there.

Building a shortlist that actually fits your postcode

Rankings are the least useful tool for this decision; work from geography and rules instead. Find your postcode in the published criteria first. A family in M32 or M41 has a materially stronger position at Stretford than a family the same driving distance away in a postcode outside that list, because that priority sits above the general distance category. Then weigh the admission numbers against how far you live from the gate, since Sale's 190 places and Stretford's 160 bite once distance ordering kicks in.

Urmston uses different categories. In its 2027 policy, the distance category considers M41 and M31 homes first, then other applicants, after earlier categories including Pupil Premium and top scorers. An M30 address does not get that M41/M31 distance priority simply because it is in Trafford. Check the full Urmston policy before judging your chances.

Loreto and St Ambrose have their own admissions policies. Check the current policy and any evidence requirements rather than assuming the Consortium schools’ rules apply. And if your child is sitting both a Consortium paper and one of the separate exams, plan for two exam experiences in one September. Our year-by-year preparation plan sets out what to cover when, and you can start a free plan to map the Trafford dates against your child's current level.

Frequently asked questions

How many grammar schools are there in Manchester? In the City of Manchester local authority, none. There are seven state grammar schools in Greater Manchester and all seven are in Trafford.

Is Manchester Grammar School a grammar school? Not in the state selective sense. It is an independent fee-paying school for ages 7 to 18, classified on the government register as an "other independent school" and inspected by the ISI. It does not use the Trafford Consortium test.

Can my child sit more than one test? Yes. One Consortium registration covers all five Consortium schools if you select that option, and Loreto and St Ambrose can be added on top, each with its own registration and date.

What score does my child need? It varies by school. Stretford's base qualifying standardised score is 334, with automatic Pupil Premium review and a Local Review route for scores from 324 to 333. A successful review changes the result to 334R. Qualification still does not guarantee a place. Check the current policy for each school and entry year, as thresholds and review rules can change.

Does an M30 postcode have priority for Urmston Grammar? M30 does not have the M41/M31 priority in Urmston's 2027 distance category. Other earlier admission categories may still apply, and the school assesses remaining candidates under its published rules. Read the school's policy rather than treating a Trafford address as an automatic place.

When do we register? For 2027 entry, Consortium registration closed at noon on 19 June 2026. The AGSB admissions page says a later test for children who missed that deadline will not be initiated until after 1 March 2027, so it cannot inform an on-time school preference for this round. Future registration and test dates must be checked for the relevant entry year, especially after the announced move to a Year 5 test for 2029 entry.

Topics

  • manchester
  • trafford
  • 11 plus
  • grammar schools
  • admissions

Find a useful starting point for one learner

The free diagnostic covers Maths, English, verbal reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning. No card is required.

Start free diagnostic